Hi all, I have been a member of my local DW Sports gym for around 2 years. I cancelled my DD with my last payment being 3rd Nov without letting the gym know. I did not attend my gym after September due to a knee problem that i was/am struggling with. Yesterday I received my first correspondence from the gym through "Major Law" in which it claims that they have prepared a county court claim and is ready to be issued against me. They also claim to have contacted me "previous correspondence sent to me by ARC" which i have not had one single letter. I find it pretty disgusting that I've been delivered this bill for £164.64 after being a loyal customer for 2 years and had no prior warning before getting this threat. Debt Balance £83 - I dont understand because it is more than my monthly membership cost x2 Court fee £25 - ?? Solicitors Costs £50 - ?? Annual Interest £6.64 ?? -------------------- Total £164.64 This is downright robbery. I am shocked and appalled that they play these moves. what can i do??? I've had a little look round the forum at similar cases but I've not come across one where the victim has been registered at the gym for a long time and cancelled the dd without notice. I have seen that people have sent letters informing DW of their intention to leave which DW have never claimed to receive. Please help me guys, i really dont want to pay £160 for DW dont deserve it. The gym i attended has got gradually worse and worse with over subscription, poor maintenance and moody staff. Thanks

I searched the internet looking for advice or information about Ashbourne Management's history with customers, and was relieved to find so many people have had the same problematic experience as myself. Early summer in 2010, I received a phone call to my place of work offering me an exclusive gym membership at a price of £12 a month. Me and my partner had both just finished uni and were keen to 'get fit' after three years of poor lifestyle habits. We went to the Compass Health and Fitness Centre based in Scarborough to meet with a gym instructor and find out more information. He explained that the deal was for a limited time only, and there were only a few spaces left, immediately making us feel slightly pressured to join. We explained we were looking to join the gym, but not as a permanent measure as we had plans to go travelling at some point within the following 12 months, and didn't know when we would be back. The instructor explicitly told us that it would be fine, as we were able to cancel our membership at any time. At no point did he inform us that we were signing up for a permanent contract... which was in fact a three year contract!! Now this strikes me as slightly ridiculous anyway as I don't know anybody who would willingly want to agree to pay for three years of gym membership, and before this I had never known of a gym 'contract' that could not be cancelled. Shortly after signing up to what I thought was an ordinary gym membership, I took on a second job, and spent the summer working 60-70 hour weeks, my only day off being Sunday. I was exhausted, and had literally no time to use the gym. I felt it was pointless paying the membership, and seeing as though I was under the false belief that I could cancel at any point, I rang the gym and asked to cancel. They told me it was fine, and that I was simply to stop my direct debit. Of course, a few weeks went by and I received my first batch of threatening letters from Ashbourne Management ( I got two at once after a postal delay due to the weather) stating I owed them for two months, and now had administration costs to pay. I rung the gym up once again, who explained I had actually taken out a three year contract, and I should contact Ashbourne Management. Which I did. And was immediately told there was no way of cancelling my 'contract' unless I had a valid doctor's letter, or if I transferred the contract to a friend (I wouldn't recommend that to anyone). I politely explained that we were told we were able to terminate the membership at any point, which was the primary reason we joined in the first place, to which I was basically called a liar. I think it's really sneaky and unfair that the gym instructor acting on behalf of Ashbourne encouraged us to take out this dodgy contract when he knew full well we were leaving the country, and were under the impression we could stop it at any time. After speaking to Trading Standards, I was reassured that a verbal contract is just as strong as a written one, and that we should have every right to cancel the membership. However, from what I have read online in various forums like this one, ending the membership is by no means easy, and AM will eventually threaten me with negative points on my credit rating. I have written a formal letter to AM as advised by Trading Standards, and will be sending it by recorded delivery this afternoon. I am eager to see what the initial outcome is. I have already read of someone who took the company to court last year and won the case, which has encouraged me to gather any evidence and information against them. I really decided to post my story on here to see what anybody has to say, or hear any advice or comments from anybody, whether you have had personal dealings with the company or not. I think I'll need all the moral support I can get!

Hi there I signed up for a 6 month contract as a special offer offered online by my gym. I filled out the form and someone contacted me so I went to see them and learn more about the membership. The salesman said that as it was only a 6 month contract I had no need to worry, it wouldn't just run on because I'd just signed up for that time. He said of course, if I wanted to continue when it expired, then I could inform them of that. So when it came up for expiry I wasn't using it so I logged in and checked the expiry date was down as 31.07.12 - it was, just as he'd said it would be. So I logged in the day after expiry to check that my contract had ended, assuming that I wouldn't get access to the member centre, or that if I did, it would say my membership had ended. It didn't. It said £42.99 due for immediate payment. The expiry date remains on their system as 31.07.12, but when I called the gym they said I hadn't given 28 days notice so I would need to pay for an additional month, August. I explained that I felt my membership was mis-sold to me as the salesman had expressly stated that I had no need to worrying about cancelling membership, and that of course I'd have called if I'd realised. I also pointed out that I knew I wouldn't need additional membership as I was moving house - which is why I'd checked that the contract wouldn't run on. They said if I'd told them I was moving back in July they may have waived the month's cancellation but now it's too late as the payment is due - and they said there's nothing that they can do as I agreed online to the terms and conditions and they are what counts. I said that surely they should be more concerned that their sales people are misinforming customers, telling them one thing while the contract says the exact opposite, but they said 'the terms and conditions you agreed to online are binding, that's all that matters so there's nothing we will do'. I pointed out that I haven't used the gym at all since the end date, but they said there's nothing they can do. Now they're saying they'll charge a £40 admin fee if I don't pay up (i'm not sure what for!) What can I do? The gym is LA Fitness. Any advice is very much appreciated as I'm a student and I can't afford all this. Are they right that because I agreed online to the ts and cs I don't have any rights? Surely it's not ok that their salespeople are deliberately misinforming customers? Thanks in advance for your help Melody

Hi All, I'm brand new to this forum so apologies if I've posted this in the wrong forum but this looked to be the most relevant section. I took out a gym membership with Bodyzone in Newcastle upon Tyne and initially agreed a 12 month contract at approx £32 per month. However, during my contract, the gym changed their membership packages, removed the 12 month contract element and dropped their monthly subscription to approx £15 with no contract. I enquired as to whether I could change to this new arrangement and was advised (in writing, via email) that as I had completed 6 months of a 12 month contract I could be changed over immediately and should contact the receptionist at the gym to arrange. I did so (in person) and was advised to cancel my existing direct debit and the gym would take care of the rest. Due to an injury (sustained at the gym) I did not attend the gym again and assumed as I had written confirmation that I would be moved to the new arrangement (no contract) that I was under no obligation to make any further payments as long as I did not attend the gym. Over the following months I received no further correspondence from the gym, but received a letter from a company called Credit Resolution Services who claimed that I was in debt to them to the sum of £231.50. I contacted CRS and advised that I did not accept their claim nor acknowledge any debt to either CRS or Bodyzone gym. I explained the situation and forwarded the email confirmation I had received in writing from the gym manager. I advised that I would not correspond by telephone and that all contact should be in writing. I was contacted again by CRS some months later advising; "Further to the above matter, we have spoken to (Receptionist) @ the Gym, whom has confirmed, that as you did not pay the required Transfer Fee in the sum of £30.00, your Membership was never changed. In view of the above, this debt is valid and due." The confirmation email that I received did not mention a "transfer fee" nor was this mentioned when I visited the gym in person. I responded to CRS advising that their actions in no way validated their claim and that the written confirmation I received contained no mention of a £30 transfer fee. See below: "Hi (Name removed), Please call into the club and see (Receptionist), so long as you have completed 6 months of a 12 month contract we can change immediately, (Receptionist) will explain the rest. Kind Regards (Name removed)" I have advised CRS numerous times that I dispute their claim entirely and acknowledge no liability to themselves or the company that they act on behalf of. However, this morning I have received 2 emails from a company called Equidebt Ltd (EQL) who have advised that they are acting on behalf of CRS. See below: "Dear (Name removed), Creditor: Credit Resolutions Services Reference: (Removed) We have been instructed by Credit Resolutions Services to collect your unpaid Gym Membership Direct Debit. It is important that you contact us immediately to resolve this outstanding debt of of £231.50 Call us after 8am on 0800 032 4280 or visit (website) to make your payment in full. Our hours of business are: 8.00am and 8.00pm Mon - Thurs, 8.00am - 6.00pm Friday or 8.00am - 1.00pm on Saturday. Yours sincerely, Equidebt Limited" I hoped that one of you guys may be able to help with my understanding of my legal position here. I did sign an agreement at the beginning of my membership, but then received written confirmation from the manager that this would be changed (immediately). I at no point signed any agreement with CRS therefore am unsure as to why they have been named as "creditor" by EQL. I've had dealings with EQL previously regarding intimidating letters referencing statute barred debts, so I understand that they aren't an ethical company, however the last thing I want to do is ignore their letters / emails if I have reason to stand my ground. As far as I'm concerned, the most they could claim from me would be a months membership under the new arrangement (therefore approx £15) but I'm also aware that if I state this or make an offer to pay then I am effectively accepting liability. Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Hi I'm new to the forums and I have been reading a number of threads in relation to Harlands and their debt collection letters on behalf of gyms. I have a rather complicated scenario but I would be interested to hear what people think. In September 2011 I looked for a gym in the local area and found one not too far from my home which was offering a six month contract at a reasonable price. I needed to find a new gym as the one that I had been using on an ad hoc basis was due to be demolished so I made a point of discussing this with the salesperson signing me up to the new gym before signing on the dotted line. As their gym had been refurbished in the May I agreed to a short contract. My agreement was with a company called Membership Collection Agency and is a very basic one page document. On their part of the document the contract stated it was for a minimum period of 6 months and states that during that time you cannot cancel your membership. On my copy of the document the salesperson did not put in a minimum term or even get me to sign. It mentions the clubs terms and conditions which were not given to me but which are apparently held by the reception at the club. I had no problems with the gym itself but only a month or so later I got tendonitis and wasn't able to work out at all until mid December. I went to the gym twice during the month and on the 17th December I turned up to find the place shut and a note on the door saying it was closed for refurbishment until the New Year. At no point had I been sent a letter saying this was going to happen. I went home fuming and tried to ring the gym to get an explanation but there was no answer so I rang MCA. Their reply was they no longer had anything to do with the gym and couldn't help me. As you can imagine I wondered what the hell was going on. So I looked at my bank account statements and found that a company called Harlands was now taking the direct debits from my account. MCA had never given me written notice to tell me that they were no longer the collection agency. The gym had never written to me to tell me of the change and Harlands hadn't bothered to contact me either. So I cancelled my direct debit because I now had an unknown agency taking money from my account and no club services. My contract states that The club can change this agreement at any time, If they do they will give me 1 months notice in writing at the address you have provided and by a notice on the club's notice board. I followed up my direct debit cancellation with an email to the gym and a couple of days later I got a note back stating that the dates for the refurb had been up at the gym as well as the change of collection agency. On the two days that I had made it to the gym I hadn't seen them as I only used a small section of the gym. They have admitted in writing that Harlands were responsible for notifying me of a change of contract and they apologised. They also told me any cancellation of membership had to be in a letter to the club so I drafted my reply that day and delivered it personally to their door. The manager also refused my request for a refund for the days the gym was shut because they felt it was upgrading the facilities for the members and therefore I would be getting a better service. Since January I have sent repeated threatening emails by Harlands asking me to pay the balance of the six monthly contract. They have also added on further charges. Interestingly I have received a letter from Credit Resolution Services threatening me with court and they have exactly the same address as Harlands. I should point out that each time I have contacted them they have promised to investigate and then just sent another threatening letter. I have copies of all the letters they have sent and the names of the people that I have spoken to. Frankly I have no intention of paying up but I would be interested to hear what other people think of the case.

Hello Everyone, Last year May i had joined Fitness First on a corporate discount because it was close to work and I had one near to my house as well. It was great until my job has moved me to a different location. After a few weeks of not going to work out I thought, well let me go to the one that`s close to my house. Without any warning, it was closed down. No signs, no explanations, nothing. So, now I have no Fitness First in a 45 minute radius around me. So, I went to one of the branches and asked what to do and why it was closed down. They said they didn`t known. They also advised me that I am unable to cancel my membership because I am within the 12 months period. So I contacted customer services and they say due to the riots they had to and it not their fault so they cannot cancel my membership within the 12 months Here`s the correspondence below. Could someone please advise me on what to do? My first e-mail to them! sent 02.02.2012., before this one I had sent one to the actual branch on 12.01.2012 which i got a response for 2 weeks later after a reminder from me!!!! "Good Afternoon, My name is ...... and I am a current member of Fitness First at Paternoster Square in London. When I first joined Fitness First I was excited about my Platinum membership because it meant convenience for me.I could go on a regular basis because it was next door to my workplace and I also had one nearby to my house. The location of my work has recently changed and I now work close to my home which is in CR0 7EW. Recently I have found out that your branch in West Croydon (where I had been previously) has been closed down for unknown reasons. I could not find any information on your website regarding this and nobody at the gym seemed to know anything about it. The closest Fitness First to me now is in Streatham which is about 45 minutes away from both my work and my home and it is a black label club. I always enjoyed my time at Fitness First and I have recommended you to others who have since signed up for a membership however due to that fact that you have closed down the closest gym to me I have no choice but to cancel my membership. I have had some correspondence from Vinny Durrant from my branch and he explained that I am still in my minimum period therefore I cannot cancel my membership. As I have explained above I did not wish to cancel it however it is impossible for me to attend because Fitness First have closed down the nearest branch to me without any prior warning. I regret the situation however I do not wish to pay for something that I am unable to use due no fault of my own. Therefore I would like you to stop my membership with immediate effect. Please confirm in writing that it has been done. I will continue to recommend your gym to my friends. Thank you! Kind Regards" This is their first ever response from customer service which came back the same day: Dear ........... Thank you for your recent email, unfortunately Croydon Fitness First was forced to close due to the recent riots in London. As discussed with my colleague Vinny Durrant we are unable to cancel your membership inside the first 12 months. Currently the nearest clubs to your location are: Beckenham - 2.9 miles - BR3 1NZ Purley - 3.0 miles - CR8 1AA If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards Jordan Hopkins Member Services, Fitness First Clubs Ltd, Fleets Point Business Centre, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3SS. Tel: 08444122661 Fax: 01202 493234 My second e-mail to them: Dear Jordan, Thank you for your prompt response. Thank you for explaining what had happened to your West Croydon Branch. I have checked our journey times and transport and unfortunately both those clubs that you mentioned are way out of my reach. I do not drive so it means I would have to take public transport. I live at .................. Please feel free to check that it takes at 40-45 minutes to get to either of those clubs. I understand the conditions of my membership but I am certain that it is my consumer right to cancel it due to the fact that it is not possible for me to use your services. I also understand that you might not be in the position to cancel my membership it that case I would like to speak to someone who is. As I have mentioned it before I have enjoyed coming to the gym which means that if my circumstances change I will be rejoining. I sincerely hope that you do not wish to make me pay for something I am not able to use due to no fault of my own. Thank you! Kind Regards No response since 03.02.2012 so i e-mailed them again today! Dear Jordan, Since my last e-mail sent to you on 03.02.2012 I have had no response from Fitness First in regards to my query. An other sum of money has also been taken out of my account on 01.03.2012 which indicates that you not only ignored my last message but have done nothing about it since. I have now contacted the Consumer Action Group UK and kindly asked them for legal advice. I have not cancelled my direct debit due to my contractual obligations, I will not so until we come to an acceptable conclusion. I have also tried to take your advice of going to a different branch but despite all my efforts it is not possible for me to that due to long journey times, as previously explained. Therefore, once we come to a conclusion and I receive my legal rights advice from The Consumer Action Group, I will be seeking refund for at least the past 2 months of my membership, of course I am happy to pay for the 1 time entry fee for the Clapham Junction Branch I attended a couple of weeks ago. I have now decided that I will not be recommending your services to anyone from this point on and I will be warning my colleagues regarding my tortures in regards to your customer service methods. Kind Regards can anyone advise me on the above please? Thank you! Szilvia

Hi, I'm having a lot of trouble with my gym. I am signed up with a 12 month contract to David Lloyd. A couple of years ago I was with them as well but ended the membership as I sprained my neck and my spine during a session with one of their personal trainers. Ever since the accident I have had problems. I can just be sat down, just relaxing and then suddenly my back/neck will go and my movement will be very limited. I took out the membership again as I wanted to try to train my body to become stronger, develop around the injuries and hopefully stop this from happening. I used the membership a few times over a two week period, just going for a gentle swim but it was too much and I was in a lot of pain with my back causing work to be very difficult. I phoned the gym, they told me if I got a letter from my GP, they would cancel the membership. Having had to cancel the membership once before, I asked them if I still had to give notice. They said no, just hand in the letter and they will cancel it straight away. So I went to the GP, got a letter and handed it into the gym. I didn't hear anything from them so I went into the gym to find out what was happening, they said the letter was not accepted due to the wording on the letter, the GP has put that I have gone to him and requested the letter. He has also put that he has reccomended gentle exercise e.g walking, that a gym membership is not required for. 1 - I don't understand how else the GP is supposed to know if I am coping or not unless I approach him to discuss the problems with my spine. 2 - It is the doccumentation they asked for. 3 - They say that the letter doesn;t rule out walking which they have treadmills for, why should I have to pay £70 a month for this? So I spoke to the GP and they said there is no reason why they should not accept the letter. I called the gym, one of the girls at reception said she would leave a message with the manager in membership sales. I didn't hear anything so I have cancelled the Direct Debit. The gym are now chasing for payment. I have now had conversations with management via email advising of the above. They have replied informing me that I am a liar and that I have not been miss informed as I was never told such things. They insist that I WAS NOT told that a letter would service and I WAS NOT told that notice was not required and they will not accept the letter. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!! They keep changing the rules and then making me out to be a liar. I have just returned to work after 3 months sick leave and can not afford the membership. They want me to pay £70 a month to use a treadmil to walk? If they won't accept a letter from the GP then what can I do? I'm livid with the emails. A manager calling me a liar. It's my word against theirs. How would they know? arghhh... Please help.

Hi all On February 4th 2010 I joined a Gym called “Club U Fitness” near Kentish Town West overground station (North West London). This gym is ran by Ashbourne Membership Management. I first heard about this Gym from a friend who said it was around £15 a month. I thought this was really cheap for a gym so I decided to head down and sign up myself. I got there and there was an American Guy running the gym who apparantly is the Owner and the “Celebrity” Gym Trainer. Anyway he spoke to me and I told him about a friend that comes here and shes paying £15 and is not tied into no long term agreements, I also let him know that was exactly what I was looking for. He said they were not doing that deal no more so he mentioned I could join for £35 a month and not be tied in or £25 a month and be tied into a 12 month contract. As soon as he mentioned 12 month contract this is when I mentioned that I was moving away from the area in August so there was no point in signing up for a long term agreement. I also told him I didn’t want to pay £35 a month because I went there expecting it to be £15 a month. This is when he said the cheapest way around it is if I join the gym on a 12 month contract costing £25 a month and then because I am moving away to University and I wont be able to access the gym I would be able to cancel it with no problem. I believed him and went to sign the contract and started training. So I paid £25 each and every month till my last payment made on July 5th 2010. I received my first letter from Ashbourne saying I needed to pay my original £35 a month and a fee on top of this, this was already wrong as I didn’t pay £35 a month I paid £25 a month. Anyway I sent of a letter explaining to Ashbourne that I was moving away and that I already spoke to the “Owner” of the gym and he said it was fine. They did not reply to me for ages, not one word! Then another letter come through saying I had to pay more this time so they completely ignored my first letter. At the time I was already living up in Sunderland (North East England) so it was hard communicating with them as they kept sending of letters to my parents address in London. After finding out they were demanding more money I sent of another letter explaining my situation. They finally got back to me saying ok we need you to prove this with two types of postal letters to your new address. I proved this straight away with a letter from my university that said I was moving into halls and a statement from the bank. This was sent just before I went on holiday in December. I came back from my holiday in January 2011 to find a letter which says I still have to pay of the amount they were asking for even though I had proved everything. I don’t see why it was needed for me to prove anything for them to just carry on demanding money. Ever since then my parents carry on receiving letters demanding money and I have wrote back to them with the same response about proving I am living away from home and I cant get to the gym. But they insist in me paying back £290. I then received a letter from Johns & Saggar Solicitors who are now chasing me down for a total of £340. They sent the letter on the 30th March 2011 and say I have 28 days from this day to settle my account to prevent further court acction. I have not replied back to Ashbourne since my last letter which they clearly ignore and I have not contacted Johns & Saggar Solicitors at all. Im not sure what to do. Any support and advice will be great. Many thanks

Heya. Me and my boyfriend joined a gym in a hotel close to our house. It was for six weeks as a promotional trial and when the date ended my boyfriend went to cancel it but was told by a very helpful girl at the desk that he can sign on and when he wants to cancel he needs to give 28 days notice. so...he joined again thinking that he could cancel after 28 days. now...when we first joined I signed for the 6 six weeks and he signed for the six weeks, two different documents but payed through direct debit from my bf account. when he signed another contract after those 6 weeks i was not present. now the trouble is that we wanted to cancel , and I found out that there was no possibility to cancel. after long discussion with one of the team leaders there i was offered a suspension of accounts for a year or reduction in the fee. I did not want to go for any options but my boyfriend went alone to talk with the woman and took the reduce membership. he realised that was another of their marketing/seling strategies and we want to know if we can do anything about it?

followed advice on here and sent them letter re recent court case and judges submission etc, this is their reply. They are saying i still must pay £700! What is my next step? Thanks in advance.

Hi any help here would be greatly appreciated.a member of my family a single parent signed a service agreement for gym membership for her 15 year old son.she has just lost her job and cannot afford the membership any longer.she paid her first months membership 40.00 in cash at the time of signing the service agreement and has paid the last 4 months on time by DD.Not only can she now not afford this membership but also her son and his friend have been using the gym equipment totally unsupervised. she and I are of the opinion that this gym have been negligent in allowing these boys access to the gym unsupervised.She wrote to the gym and their collection agent Debit Finance Collections PLC and the agent replied with the usual rhetoric that if she defaults they will automatically pass her name on to the credit reference agencies.Just need a little help to make them go awaythanks

My girlfriend & I are currently in a battle with Ashbourne (AMS). It’s clearly not a good sign there are so many others with the same problem, but its comforting to know were not alone. Address: PO BOX 10920, Shirley, Solihull, B90 8YB (to make sure we’re talking about the same company). My girlfriend joined Body Lab in Bletchley about a year ago. At the time of joining she was told the contract could be terminated via one months notice or transfer the membership to another person. My girlfriend has since stopped using the gym due to work commitments, she contacted the gym to give one months leaving notice. She was confronted with a torrent of abuse and told in no uncertain terms she couldn’t. Even saying such comments as ‘if your pregnant you still cant leave’ or ‘its like saying you have a new born to look after and cant make it to the gym’. They abruptly and rudely said she would have to continue paying no matter what as there is a signed contract. The only way to relieve the contract was to move at least 15miles away showing utility bills to prove it or the sales agreement from selling her house. My girlfriend was thinking of moving to Flitwick due to personal circumstances and would have been paying rent only; the home owner paying the bills and so forth. It was then agreed car insurance and passport could be used. When calling AMS to confirm they insulted her by saying a girl of that age would not be in this position and must continue paying no matter what. With no luck she contacted AMS at a later date to be greeted with yet more abuse from their staff. So I have been in contact with Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and they are asking if Lou would fill in a questionnaire & possibly be a witness against AMS in court. I would urge anyone else to get in contact with the OFT so they have the best possible case to stop them trading. I want to write a letter to AMS stating that we will no longer be paying them anymore money, so hopefully I will be able to post on her some good news soon. If anyone has any advice on the best way to go about this please feel free to get in contact me. Thanks

Hi all I signed up to a membership with a local council gym for a contract of 3 months, and the guy said i could cancel afterwards anytime when i signed up, i paid for about 7 months and then i decided to cancel the direct debit with them as i was too busy and didn't use it for a month, i didn't want to waste money unnecessarily. But i changed my mind later on and i decided to go after 1 month, but to my surprise, the customer agent said that i broked the term and conditions and its been passed on to a debt collection agency and i can't use the gym till i pay them. I tried explaining it to them and offered to pay them straight even though i didn't use the gym, they kept ignoring me, and told me that i had to give a 30 day notice, which i think i did anyway, when i went there. I even asked for the DCA number to pay them directly, but they didn't have it and said it was out of their hands and that i had to wait for a letter from the DCA now, which i haven't got yet. I am just really worried about my credit rating report here, as i am looking to move into a career in finance, and i don't want the debit collection agency to report this to the credit agencies, I never had any financial problems like this before. This has been bugging me a lot and i don't know what to do now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks.

Hi all, My partner received a letter from Credit Resolution Services today, and we could really do with some advice. Bascially, we joined a gym nearly three years ago in London called the Bay Health Centre in London. When we moved out of the area six months later (landlord problems, different story...), we contacted the gym about the membership. They said it was fine to cancel if we provided proof that we were moving out of the area in order to cancel, which we duly did. Now we have a letter from CRS demanding £261 for the remaining six months membership plus a £35 charge from the agency, but apparently only for my partner. I checked with the credit agency and they don't seem to have an outstanding debt for me, so the apparently my membership was cancelled ok, but my partners wasn't, despite the fact it was the same letter sent for both of us. The trouble is that this was ages ago; we don't still have the confirmation email etc because we assumed (obviously naiively) that this was all sorted. We tried contacting the health club to argue that it ridiculous that they had cancelled one and not the other from the same letter, but they have apparently shut down and must be dragging through the depths to get money back. We did call CRS to see if they had details to contact the company, but they do not have the membership account details of the health club, and won't provide us with a way of contacting them. However, they said they would accept £95 to settle the debt (2 months membership plus a charge for tracing us). We complained that we were not contacted before it was passed to a debt agency either; apparently the gym "sent letters to our address", which was a wonderful idea as the reason we cancelled because we were moving! What do we do? The big problem is that we can't prove that we cancelled it fairly now with anything we have, but it really rankles having to pay even the £95, especially as we have just both become postgrad students and moved house, so now is not a great time to have to pay out random money... However, we would obviously rather pay the £95 than have to pay the full six months if we don't have proof of the cancellation. The question then becomes what documentation should we demand from the credit agency to prove that this debt is really theirs and cancelled once and for all and will never come back to haunt us again? We are both young, just starting out, and desperately don't want a bad credit rating as we have actually been very good with money.

Hi All, I would really appreciate some advice with the following: Some background. In February I visited LA Fitness and enquired about a corporate membership. I filled in a form with my contact details and a sales advisor showed me around the club. Later that week the sales advisor contacted me to see whether I was interested. I returned to the club the next day and gave my debit card (physically at the front desk) to the advisor. He took the information and gave me my membership card. I don't recall signing a debit card form however I definitely didn't sign a membership agreement (LA Fitness has confirmed this ). Later that same day I received an email (I can only assume it was generated by the sales advisor) of my 'agreement' This email included the following information: - 12 month contract. - Agreed to the terms and conditions - The normal cooling off period of 7 days does not apply as you were signed up in club by a sales advisor. - During your induction you will be requested to sign a membership agreement, this will allow you access to the club. Upon your first visit you will be able to pick up your membership card, please bring a form of identification'. This month I contacted LA fitness to discuss my membership as the fees I am paying are much higher than my colleagues and the facilities I feel are declining. My intention was to discuss my fees and either receive a lower fee or cancel my membership. After two weeks of little progress and refusals to discuss anything through the member call centre I'm now in email discussions with member relations. Member relations have advised the following today: 'It states on the email that you have signed up in the club. The sales person took you through the contract in the club and explained everything to you. You then would have clicked to say that you agree to the terms and conditions which is legally binding. You do not sign anything on a self paid corporate membership as you agree via the internet'. The above is simply false. At no time did I see a contract, terms & conditions & didn't touch a computer. Frankly I don't actively pursue a company to sign a contract unless it is absolutely necessary and in the sales advisors exuberance he failed to ask me to. My position at present is that the original confirmation email from LA Fitness states that 'during my induction I would be requested to sign a membership agreement'. I did not have an induction and therefore if LA Fitness cannot provide a signed membership agreement, I would like a renegotiation of my fees or cancellation. Additionally the original confirmation states that the 'normal cooling off period of 7 days does not apply as you were signed up in club by a sales advisor'. If I had signed up over the Internet as they are suggesting I would be granted a 7 day cooling off period under the distance selling regulations. Therefore this suggests I didn't sign up online. LA Fitness are essentially saying that I signed up in the club over the internet (is this even possible?). Therefore I agreed to the terms and conditions and they do not require a signed member agreement. In conclusion, I've been very reasonable in my dealings with LA Fitness throughout. My main gripe is what I consider unfair fees. In fact my preference is to stay with LA Fitness, with a fairer fee, which is the position I've stated all along. However, if a mutually agreeable arrangement cannot be made I would like to cancel. Is this enforceable as LA Fitness are stating it is? I appreciate any advise you may be able to provide Dan